Climatic and density-dependent drivers of population dynamics in a hazardous urban scorpion species over seven years

Posted by
  Climatic and density-dependent drivers of population dynamics in a hazardous urban scorpion species over seven years Abstract This link goes to a Portuguese section Tityus serrulatus Lutz & Mello (Scorpiones: Buthidae) is the most medically important scorpion in Brazil, responsible for a growing number of accidents in urban areas. Despite its relevance, the population dynamics of this species in anthropogenic habitats remain poorly understood, particularly regarding the influence of abiotic factors on its abundance and reproduction. We analysed long-term data (2006–2013) from T. serrulatus collected in an urban cemetery in the municipality of Americana, São Paulo State, Brazil. Using spatiotemporal mixed models, we evaluated the effects of temperature and humidity at the graves on the abundance of brooded and non-brooded individuals, as well as on the ratio between the two reproductive groups. A total of 21,489 individuals were recorded, including 463 brooded individuals. W...

Grand challenges in arachnid genetics and biomaterials

Posted by

 





Grand challenges in arachnid genetics and biomaterials

Arachnids, particularly spiders, flourish in abundance within most ecosystems (Blamires et al., 2007; Oxbrough and Ziesche, 2013; Henneken et al., 2022; Agnarsson, 2023; Fonseca-Ferreira et al., 2023). Arachnids such as spiders, scorpions and mites create and/or secrete a range of biomaterials, including silks, glues, adhesives, nano-fibres, venoms and other toxins, and chitin associated molecules used to form sensory systems, armour, body colouration/luminescence, and locomotion (Kuntner, 2022). Studies focusing on the evolutionary and ecological aspects of these kinds of arachnid secretory products have established that extended phenotypic features enable arachnids their immense niche flexibility (Agnarsson et al., 2010; Blamires et al., 2012a; Blamires and Tso, 2013; Blamires et al., 2017a; Blamires et al., 2017b; Lacava et al., 2018; Viera et al., 2019; Henneken et al., 2022; Kuntner, 2022). Nonetheless, the genetic features and the expression patterns implicit in facilitating this flexibility remain largely unexplored.


Blamires, S. J. (2024). Grand challenges in arachnid genetics and biomaterials. Frontiers in Arachnid Science, 3, 1356170. https://doi.org/10.3389/frchs.2024.1356170